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(See Parsha Shelach commentary below)
1 Timothy {4:8} "For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come."
Many of us are spiritual weaklings and the devil is kicking sand in our faces and he is humiliating us. We need to turn it around; we need to be kicking sand in the devil’s face. We have forgotten that we are the undefeatable champions of the world through Messiah Yeshua who strengthens us In fact you are going to be amazed at how simple it really is. Here are some steps for becoming spiritually strong. Call it your spiritual fitness program:
In the physical realm people think if they get a new type of weight machine they are going to get physically fit. Trouble is those machines do not work on their own. No matter how high-tech the machine is, until you commit to using it on a regular basis, nothing is going to happen to your body. You have to put the effort in, in order to get anything out. So how do you solve the problem of not exercising? You have to choose to exercise. You have to do the same thing with God, you have to choose to get serious with God, to commit time and effort to Him. In other words you have to decide that you do not want to be a spiritual wimp,
When you start a physical fitness program you never start-out bench pressing 136k. You start at your level, whatever that may be. If you start at too high of a level you will not succeed, you will get discouraged and quit. Always start at your level, and then slowly work your way up. Meet God where you are at, it is the only way to succeed. Taking just one step in the right direction is the beginning of a great journey in the right direction.
In the physical, before you get into exercising, you have to stretch your muscles otherwise you may hurt yourself. Well in the spiritual you have to stretch your spirit before you enter into any heavy work for the Lord. You have to prepare yourself at a lower level and then work your way up into what God finally wants you to do for Him. Too many people take on more than they can handle and then get discouraged and end up doing nothing. It is better to start small with the Lord and be committed then to start big and be a quitter.
We grow spiritually stronger simply by exercising and it involves resistance! The more resistance you can push, pull or lift, the stronger you become. Barbells and weights are what constitute resistance in the physical. What constitutes resistance in the spiritual? Problems, challenges, troubles, things you don’t want to do; difficulties, hard times and disappointments. The more resistance you have the more effort you exert to push through and the stronger you become spiritually. It works physically and it works spiritually. The more trouble and persecution you go through and get through, the stronger you are spiritually. We spend so much of our lives trying to avoid resistance when it is resistance that makes us stronger.
God will provide you with all the exercise equipment you will ever need, and whatever resistance you may need in the future He will provide that also. Do you want to be a spiritual wimp or do you want to be victorious? Commit yourself to excellence; commit yourself to being a champion and start kicking sand in the devils face!
CLICK https://youtu.be/3YddE9BHMX8 for the Torah commentary on Parsha "Vayeshev" by Gilbert Shilaho.
CLICK https://youtu.be/-SFySSyA2SE for the Torah commentary on “Vayeshev” by Rabbi Jack.
CLICK https://youtu.be/n0MiOapZN2w to watch the full Shabbat Service of December 13, 2025.
CLICK https://youtu.be/Ud8L7acJVik for the video of sermon “The Ministry of Angels” by Rabbi Jack.
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Titus 2:13…while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Messiah Yeshua.”
Yours in Messiah Yeshua,
Shabbat Shalom
Jack & Ellen
D’VAR TORAH
SHELACH / SEND
BAMIDBAR / NUMBERS 13:1-15:41
Numbers {13:1-2; 17-20} "The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, {13:2} Send you men that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, everyone a prince among them. {13:17} Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Get you up this way by the south, and go up into the hill-country: {13:18} and see the land, what it is; and the people who dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many; {13:19} and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds; {13:20} and what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is wood therein, or not. Be you of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes."
It is obvious here that The Lord set this whole “spy out the land” affair as a test for Israel. Read again what Moses asked of them: “…what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad…” The Lord was asking Moses to send a leader from each tribe to go and check whether the land He was giving them was good or bad! If that was not a test I do not know what is. Why do I see it as a test, because of what The Lord told Moses and the children of Israel previously when He was coming to remove them from the land of Egypt.
Exodus 3:8 "I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite."
So, The Lord already told Moses and the children of Israel that the land He was giving them was a land flowing with milk and honey, which to me means it was a good land. Then why would The Lord now be telling them to go and check out the land and see “whether it was good or bad,”? Because it was a test! These Scriptures are a real encouragement to me. The Lord has made many “Promise Land” type promises to me, yet I am always finding myself having to go in and spy out the land before I receive anything. Some of you might be saying, “What is he talking about?” Well, let me give you an example of what I mean. When I was a new Believer (Born Again), and attending a Messianic congregation, I was invited to join the congregation’s evangelism team. I was new and never publicly spoke about Yeshua to strangers, so it was something scary but I said yes on the condition that I could just go as an observer and “spy out the land,” so-to-speak. We went to the parking lot of a large department store in our community and when I saw all the different people from different walks of life; Jews, Muslims, Hispanics, African Americans, fear started to grip me. I felt that this was something I just could not do; walk up to some total stranger and talk to them about the Jewish Messiah. All types of negative scenarios were running through my mind. At my word, would Muslims be open to a Messianic Jewish oriented Gospel? I thought, "never in a million years would they accept a Jewish Messiah";. As it happens, The Lord had previously spoken to me to step out into the community to share my faith. So, I knew it was because of Him I was there, yet it was still scary.
I could have come back with a bad report and declined to continue going out with the evangelism group or I could choose to believe and trust The Lord to work out the mechanics of reaching this community for the Mashiach, despite what I saw and felt and despite the fact that we are Messianic Jews with a Messianic Jewish oriented Gospel.
Each of us regularly face tests similar to the one The Lord imposed on the children of Israel. As Believers in Messiah Yeshua, we read God’s promises in the Bible, we believe God’s promises, but when we are tested on them do we, instead of seeing the victory The Lord has promised us, see the giants in the land?
Life would have been so much simpler for this generation of Israel if they would have only believed God when He said that the land He was giving them was a good land flowing with milk and honey. Then when Moses asked them to go and “spy-out the land” they could have just said, “There is no need for us to do what you are asking Moses. The Lord has already told us that the land is a good land, and He said that He was going to give it to us as a possession. What God has said is good enough for us; we are ready to go up and take the land now.” Life can and will be so much simpler for us as well, if we
would only say and do the same when we are tested by The Lord.
